Cultural exchange is complete with jack-o’-lanterns

After arriving to Newport Beach Tuesday and attending class at local schools all week, seven Japanese students under the Okazaki student exchange program topped off their stay with pumpkin carving and a neighborhood barbecue Friday at Private Road Park.

The Newport Beach Fire Department grilled burgers for the guests.

Earlier in June, seven eighth-grade students from Ensign and Corona del Mar middle schools traveled to Okazaki, Japan, to stay with host families there. Those families then sent their eighth-grade students to Newport Beach to stay with the families of the Ensign and Corona del Mar students in late September.

The Newport Beach Sister City Assn. and the Newport Balboa Rotary Club have sponsored the exchange program for more than 30 years. Both organizations work closely with Sister City counterparts in Okazaki and the Okazaki South Rotary Club.

Sixth- to eighth-grade students living in Newport Beach apply for spots in the program through the Rotary Club each year.

Participants for this year’s exchange, who are now freshmen in high school, included Corona del Mar students Katie Langley, Simone Oberreiter, Ian Turner, Brittany Weinstock; Newport Harbor High School students Rhys Sullivan, Alima Aguirre; and Sage Hill School student Alexis Kelly.

In Okazaki, students are nominated by their school principals and then selected by their school district to be in the program.

The pumpkin carving and the barbecue event is held for the exchange students, the host families and other Newport Beach community members each year.

The exchange students depart from Newport Beach on Sunday.

For next year’s exchange program, applications for Newport Beach students will be available Nov. 1 at newportbeachrotary.com/okazaki-student-exchange/